Do's and Don'ts
There are a lot of things that should be common sense in any RP: Don't be a jerk, Do be creative, Don't metagame. However! Everyone knows how uncommon common sense really is, so the department of redundancy department brought this page into being. Everything here is mostly a guideline for getting started, with only a few rules set in stone. These rules will help you know what we expect from you in the game, and what to expect from us. If you see anything missing, be sure to make your suggestions in the channel and update the page accordingly! DO DO have fun! The most important thing is that we have fun and make this game fun for each other. DO use proper grammar and punctuation, and DO make your posts a reasonable length. One-lining is not appropriate, and neither is 10-paragraph posts. Ideally it should be between one and four paragraphs, up to eight if everyone is in a more verbose mood. DO reference sites like TvTropes for inspiration and guidance in your character creation and plotting. DO approach the game in a 'lighter and fluffier' mindset. We want to be a realistic game, but more on the fun side! The world is full of superpowered wierdos and most people are kind of bored with it, in more of a Venture Brothers way than a Watchmen way. DO work yourself into conversation. It might be cool to lurk in the shadows and stalk other characters from the rooftops, but no one is going to talk to you that way. Similarly, it isn't recommended that you make a cripplingly shy character, unless you don't plan for anyone to notice them. DO keep OOC chatter in the OOC channel, other than in small asides. It's distracting to have people posting things like ((was he trying to hit me or him?)) in the IC game when it can be just as easily said in the OOC channel, or whispered to another player. DON'T DON'T metagame. Repeat: DO. NOT. METAGAME. This is difficult when some characters may be 'super detectives', and it's understandable if we might have to fudge it sometimes, but everyone should know what the line is. If someone is playing a character with a secret identity, and the civilian identity is common OOC knowledge, it is never appropriate to 'discover' their alter ego without permission from the player. Even if you've got a super sense of smell, or a super brain, or x-ray vision that can see through masks. The same goes with 'finding clues', if everyone already knows who the villain is in a storyline, or that one of the characters is a double-agent, it ruins the IC surprise of the big reveal if everyone's characters have a 'sneaking suspicion'. DON'T give up on a plot that doesn’t take off right away. Be patient. It is normal if everyone doesn't leap into the mystery machine as soon as you introduce a possible mystery to solve. Try setting baits that would lure in individual characters for their own reasons so other people aren't acting out of character for the sake of moving your story along. Sow seeds of gossip, and don't try to make your story the center of the game. We want to always have plots and subplots going on, with everyone given time to share the spotlight. DON'T be the 'problem fixer'. Other characters will have problems and issues, and things to angst about, and that is part of what makes them interesting. If everyone solved everyone else's problems in the game, no one would have anything interesting to talk about. No reuniting long-lost siblings or playing therapist to the cowl-wearing jerk with the dead parents in an effort to heal his heart unless the player wants it that way. Otherwise, leave well enough alone. DON'T give your character too much tragedy in their backstory. Dead or abusive parents are overused and if they show up in a new player's character biography it is what is known as a red flag. Now, most everyone has had something shitty happen to them in their lives, but no one's hometown was accosted by reavers shortly after their older sister committed suicide and their grandmother got cancer. Limit your character's personal tragedies to one. Category:Regular People Wiki